Chapter 3

Squall was thinking. Should he accept it? Should he not allow it? What should he do? Somehow he just doesn't feel right calling Yuffie that weird name.

It just doesn't seem to be like her. Am I afraid that she will change? Will I miss her if she changes and becomes less cheerful? Will I miss her when she becomes more mature? Do I want her to be cheerful forever?

He was frustrated. He decided he go out to train. Maybe he can put his thoughts on hold.

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Yuffie sat on top of the Gizmo shop. She liked the place. It was a place for her to relax and deal with the problems she was facing. Well, mostly it was a relaxing place because she usually didn't want problems, so she rarely dealt with it.

She laughed. "Crystal…was that name actually a good name? I mean, even if Aerith and Cloud would call me by that, they wouldn't actually want that in their hearts, and Squall, well, he totally disagrees with it, and I just wonder, why is he so stubborn when he changed his old name? 'Leon'. It just doesn't feel nice to me. I like the name Leon, but I like Squall better. Much better." She said and sighed.

"I like the name Yuffie better than Crystal." Said a voice.

"What? Who's there?" Said Yuffie, jumping up instantly, taking out her shurikens ready.

"Calm down, Yuffie. It's me, if you remember." Said a figure, coming out of the darkness.

"Huh?" She said.

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"Cloud…I'm bored." Aerith said.

"Me too. But what else have we to do?" Said Cloud.

"I don't know, that's the problem!" Said Aerith.

Cloud laughed.

"Cloud….I haven't heard your laugh for so long." Aerith said, smiling.

"I haven't laughed for so long, either." Said Cloud, he laughed harder.

Aerith laughed with him. They laughed even more because they thought laughing for nothing was funny.

"Stop…y-you're…making…me…laugh." Said Aerith between laughs.

Cloud laughed. He wanted Aerith to be happy all the time. Not like him. He was always in the darkness.

"Aerith, how do you stay happy all the time? I'll never be like you. I was always in the darkness." He said, a bit sad.

"Hmm…" She said, laughing. "I was always happy because of…you." She said.

Cloud looked up at her.

"And you were in the darkness, right? Now you aren't. You'll never be, as long as you're with me." She said, smiling.

"You're right. I'll never fall into the darkness again, as long as I'm with you." Cloud said.

He walked over to Aerith and kissed her gently. She deepened the kiss, and they broke apart later for air.

"Cloud?" Said Aerith.

"Yes, Aerith?" Said Cloud.

"You'll never leave me again, will you?" She said, hesitantly.

"Of course not. I'll never leave you. You're my light." He said, smiling.

She smiled back. "And you're my destiny." She said, snuggling closer to him.

He nodded and smiled.

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"Agh…what the hell am I suppose to do?" Squall said, frustrated.

"I don't want Yuffie to change, so I don't even want Yuffie's name to be changed to Crystal." He said, nodding.

"But she wants me to say that I allow her to change her name." He nodded again.

"But why? Why would she want to change her name? She didn't have a bad past, not that I know of, anyway." He said. Then he realized.

Maybe he didn't know her true past. Did Aerith and Cloud know? Were they hiding that from him? Or if he asks why they didn't tell him, they would probably say, "You never asked." That crap. Cid always said that.

"The nature of Yuffie…was to always stay cheerful when the times are hard. That was what made me feel better…" He said.

"Did she start becoming cheerful ever since after she had her past?" He said, wondering.

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"Hey…you're…" Yuffie said, rubbing her chin.

"I don't believe you've forgotten me, Yuffie." He said.

"Wait…wait…I'm getting it…" Yuffie said, rubbing her chin faster.

"Vinnie!" Yuffie said, jumping and hugging him. She laughed.

"Good. You remember me." Vincent Valentine said.

"Aw…oh come on! Let's go meet the others! Everyone will be so happy that you're here." Yuffie said, dragging Vincent to the hotel.

If it was an anime, Vincent would look like a chibi him with a sweat drop being dragged by a chibi Yuffie.

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"Hey guys! Lookie! Vinnie's here!" Yuffie shouted out in the hallways.

Cloud came out first and asked, "What the hell? Vincent? I thought…you were dead." He said, looking surprised.

"Vincent?" Aerith came out and ran to meet him. "Vincent! It's been a long time!" She said, happily.

Then Squall came out. "You should come into our rooms and tell us, not shout out here, Yuffie." He said.

"It's Crystal." Yuffie replied, huffing afterwards.

Squall massaged his forehead. "Whatever." He said, and went to Vincent and asked, "Long time."

"As to you. I haven't died when our world disappeared. I barely escaped." Vincent said.

"Then how did you get here?" Cloud asked, coming over.

"When I escaped from our world, I was actually unconscious. When I woke up, I was in this coliseum. I found out that there were tournaments held there, and when I went to see who were in the last tournaments, I found you, Squall and Yuffie." Said Vincent.

"It's Leon." Said Squall.

"It's Crystal." Said Yuffie.

Cloud just nodded, understanding what Vincent was saying.

"Yuffie, your name's Yuffie. Not Crystal. And Squall, your name's Squall. Not Leon." Said Vincent, closing his eyes for a moment.

Then he continued. "Then I asked that Phil if I could go to other worlds. I searched for you all." He said, "But I never found you for so long. Until now, when I arrived at Traverse Town." Vincent said. He didn't say what he heard. He decided to say that later.

"Cool! And my name is Crystal now!" Said Yuffie.

"And my name's Leon." Said Squall.

Vincent looked as if he didn't care.

"So, Vinnie, what d'ya wanna do?" Yuffie asked.

"I want to rest. I want to be alone for a moment, if you don't mind." He said.

"Sure!" Yuffie said, as she skipped out. She was used to it; he always does that.

"So do you know anything that we should know?" Asked Squall.

"In fact, I do. Yuffie is being targeted." Vincent said.

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Yuffie decided to go back to the top of the Gizmo Shop. She had practically nothing to do and she wants to think for a minute. Of course, think about Squall.

She couldn't think about him. He was everywhere she went, anyways. Or maybe she was everywhere he went.

She sighed. When will she ever get rid of this feeling? She liked it…but it's just that he doesn't seem to notice it, or he notices it, but he's ignoring it.

This wasn't what she wanted. She wanted a fun life, with no worries or problems like this. None at all.

What she didn't know was that she was in danger. The mysterious man was behind her, and was going to capture her.

Yuffie suddenly woke up from her thoughts, and turned. She saw the mysterious man trying to catch her.

She ran away, and took out her shurikens. "What the hell? Get away from me, you freak!" She shouted.

"No." The mysterious man said.

"Fine. Then let's have it the hard way." She threw her shurikens at him.

He blocked it effortlessly. Yuffie was shocked. He came closer and closer to her, and Yuffie was in panic. If her shurikens didn't work, and she didn't have any other weapon, what is she going to do?

The mysterious man was walking closer and closer to her. She had two choices. Either to scream for help, or surrender. Of course, she's not dumb to do that. So she screamed.

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"AHHHHHHHHH!"

Cloud, Aerith, Vincent and Squall heard a scream. They all rushed out to see what was happening.

When they came out, they saw on the top of the Gizmo Shop, Yuffie and a man in a cloak approaching her.

"It's him." Said Vincent.

"Him? That's the guy?" Said Cloud.

"Yuffie!" Aerith said, in shock and fear.

Yuffie was now standing on the edge of the floor, trying to hit the man with her shurikens. She didn't realize how dangerously close she was to falling.

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"Stay away, freak!" Yuffie shouted.

She heard Aerith screaming for her. But she couldn't answer because she was busy defending herself from this freak!

She was moving back. She didn't realize that she was going to fall…whoops.

"AHHHHHH!" She screamed. Was this the end for her?

"Yuffie!" Squall shouted. He climbed over the wall to get to the bottom to catch her.

Aerith couldn't do anything. All she could do was pray for Yuffie's safety. She was shocked and she was in fear.

Cloud tried to get up the top as fast as he can with Vincent. They knew they had to know why they wanted to get Yuffie.

Yuffie thought to herself. Maybe this was the end of her. She started crying. Yes, this was the end of her. Tears formed on her pale face. But she laughed a little. The she whispered, "Squall…."

She came down, and Squall was afraid that he didn't catch her. He didn't want to lose her. She was someone important in his life. Someone precious in his life. He finally realized that.

"Yuffie…" He whispered.

As he saw Yuffie coming closer and closer, he prepared himself.

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Yuffie opened her eyes. "W-What?" She said.

She turned and saw Squall smiling at her. A genuine smile from Squall! Hehehe…

"Squall…" She whispered.

She found out she was in Squall's arms. But she didn't care. She was happy. She was alive. She didn't have to leave without saying goodbye.

She cried on Squall's chest. Tears of joy, of course.

Squall just held her closer. He made his way back up to the hotel while Aerith was running to them, happy that they were safe.

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"Damn!" Said Cloud.

Cloud and Vincent fought with the man, but the man disappeared before they could finish him off.

"From now, we have to protect Yuffie from these people. And we'll try to find out who they are and what they want from Yuffie." Said Vincent.

"Yeah. Let's discuss this with Leon later." Said Cloud as the two went back.

"Do you know who it is?" Cloud asked.

"No. I just heard him talking to someone on a phone maybe." Said Vincent as they went back.

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Yuffie cried and cried. Aerith was consoling her, and Squall was thinking. Who was that person and what was his business with Yuffie?

(Oh yesh, Yuffie was crying like an anime chara…you know, like those cute chibi anime charas…so cute!)

"Yuffie…everything's fine now. Leon just saved you! You should be happy that you weren't kidnapped!" Aerith said, brightly but in a consoling mode.

"I-It's C-Crystal." Said Yuffie, trying to stop her sobs.

"Sorry Crystal." Aerith said, giggling. "I'll go get you guys a drink." She said and left.

"Yuffie, you better just forget about changing your name." Said Squall.

"NO!" Yuffie said, through tears. She then lied down on the bed on her stomach, so her face was covered.

Squall sighed. But then again, that's how he liked her to be. He walked towards her and picked her up.

"Woah…" Said Yuffie, surprised. Her crying stopped, but she still had her tears on her face.

Squall sat on the bed, and made Yuffie sit on his lap. (That's so not Squall-ish.)

"Squall--"Yuffie said, surprised.

Squall just smiled at her, and wiped her tears from her face. He whispered, "I was worried like hell. Don't do that ever again."

Yuffie felt hot. Very hot. She started blushing, but she turned her head away. But Squall noticed it. He leaned closer to her, and whispered again, "I don't know what I'd do without you."

"S-Stop joking, Squall." Yuffie said, with a nervous laugh.

"I'm not, Yuffie." Whispered Squall.

She blushed even more. By now, her face was like a tomato. Or even darker. Like blood.

"I'm telling ya, Squall. You shouldn't be joking around." She said, trying to sound serious and look serious, but failing miserably. Her blushing face is the problem. Stop blushing Yuffie! Calm down, calm down…oooh I can't!

Yuffie started taking deep breaths. Squall thought different. "What's wrong, Yuffie? Feeling hot?" He said, smirking.

"W-What!" Yuffie said. "I swear, stop it, Squall." She said, feeling like her blush disappeared. But it didn't. So Squall could see of course. He smirked at the sight.

"What are you smiling for?" Yuffie said, huffing.

"Sorry, Yuffie." He said, in his teasing voice that Yuffie thought was alluring. She felt her face getting hot again.

She couldn't take it. But she wanted to. She laid her head on Squall's chest. And Squall just embraced her. He then realized…

Aerith purposely left them like this. She knew this was going to happen. She didn't come for so long already, anyway.

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Author's notes: Yup, this was long. Well, longest I ever written, I guess. Well, I am sorry if some authors or authoress got offended by Vincent appearing, but I just wanted to. I know he supposedly died when the worlds disappeared, but who knows, he could survive, right? Look, I just want to put him, so please work with me here. Let things be. It's a fanfiction. It's not going to happen anyway. Stop scolding me. I don't like it when people are mad at me. I want to be friends with my reviewers, not enemies. Please?